In some instances, it may be desirable to provide a side-to-side anastomosis between two naturally occurring lumens within a patient's body. By way of example only, it may be desirable to provide an anastomosis between two portions of a patient's gastrointestinal tract, such as between the patient's duodenum and the patient's ileum. In some patients, it may improve glucose control, serve as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, and/or provide other results when the jejunum is diverted by an anastomosis. In such a procedure, a first enterotomy may be formed in the sidewall of the duodenum while a second enterotomy is formed in the sidewall of the ileum. The sidewalls may then be positioned adjacent to each other to form an anastomosis between the portions of the duodenum and the ileum in which the enterotomies are formed, as described in greater detail below. The anastomosis establishes direct fluid communication between the adjacent portions of the duodenum and ileum, enabling at least some nutrient-rich chyme to pass through the anastomosis to travel from the duodenum directly to the ileum without passing through the jejunum. In other variations in which the anastomosis is positioned at other locations within the gastrointestinal tract, some chyme may pass through a shortened portion of the jejunum. In either case, the anastomosis enables accelerated passage of nutrient-rich chyme through the gastrointestinal tract.
One or more devices may be positioned within the first and second enterotomies to hold the sidewalls of the duodenum and ileum together, thereby holding the first and second openings in alignment with each other and maintaining patency through the openings. The device or devices may compress the tissue, which may ultimately result in a serosa-to-serosa adhesion that secures the duodenum sidewall to the ileum sidewall. In addition, tissue captured in the device or devices may eventually necrose, such that the device or devices is/are eventually released into the gastrointestinal tract and subsequently passed through the bowels. Traditional examples of anastomosis devices include Denan's rings and the Murphy button. Examples of anastomosis procedures and associated devices are taught in U.S. Provisional Patent App. No. 61/697,845, entitled “Magnetic Compression Anastomosis Device,” filed Sep. 7, 2012, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein; U.S. Pat. No. 9,364,238, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Joining Hollow Organ Sections in Anastomosis,” issued Jun. 14, 2016, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/298,816, entitled “Method for Partial Diversion of the Intestinal Tract,” filed Oct. 20, 2016, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
While a variety of anastomosis devices and methods have been made and used, it is believed that no one prior to the inventor(s) has made or used an invention as described herein.
The drawings are not intended to be limiting in any way, and it is contemplated that various embodiments of the invention may be carried out in a variety of other ways, including those not necessarily depicted in the drawings. The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements shown.